Best Friends
by SunSpell80
Summary: Finnick was her best friend, and Johanna hated him for it. A short look into Finnick and Johanna's friendship. Finnick/Annie. Slight one-sided Johanna/Finnick. Rated M for Johanna's mouth.


A/N: I keep going off on story-tangents. I'm so off-focused. The next part of "The Art of Staying Good" is coming soon. Potter fans, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait until I get over this sudden obsession with the Hunger Games.

I was thinking of Johanna's introduction for "The Art of Staying Good" and it just seemed to fit a story from Johanna's point of view better. This will probably not be compliant with how they meet in "The Art of Staying Good." I still haven't decided.

Rating for mature themes and terrible language. Johanna's got a mouth. They even had to bleep her out in the movies!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Suzanne Collins owns it all.

* * *

Best Friends

* * *

Finnick was her best friend, and Johanna hated him for it.

* * *

Haymitch introduced them, naturally. She gravitated toward Haymitch because that's what self-destructive people did: they went in search of the nearest liquor bottle. Haymitch was too old and too tired to share his woes with a young Victor whose trouble was only beginning. So he batted her off, brushed her away until one party when he seized her by the arm and said, "Let's go find you a friend."

Johanna pushed against him because that's what _she _did (that's what she did when President Snow offered her riches to sell her body to the highest bidder, that's what she did when his offer turned into a demand and then a threat, that's what she kept doing after her family was dead and buried and nobody was pushing against her anymore because they had nothing to push her with) but allowed him to drag her over to the corner of the room and pushed her toward Finnick Odair, who for once was not surrounded by adoring fans.

"Johanna, this is Finnick. Finnick, this is Johanna. Play nice."

"Johanna Mason!" His grin was wide and Capitol and Johanna wanted to smash all his glittering white teeth in. "I've been wanting to meet you ever since you bashed my Tributes' skulls in."

"Not likewise." She glared after Haymitch, who had disappeared. "I think you're the last Victor I wanted to meet."

He laughed and leaned against the wall. "I'd heard the Capitol hadn't managed to declaw you yet."

"And they never will." Johanna snarled. "So you'd better back up: I also bite."

Instead of backing away, he just continued to smile like she amused him. "No, I much prefer you this way. You're like an angry kitten. It's hilarious." He spoke as if he'd never seen her murder anyone. Then again, she remembered watching him do the same as a child. Perhaps they were on even footing.

Or rather, they would have been if he weren't the biggest manwhore to ever set foot in the Capitol. "Well, this is one pussy you're not getting into bed." She told him bluntly, hoping he'd be shocked with her crassness and leave her alone.

Her hope was futile. "Why would I want to do that?" He sounded almost genuinely confused. It was a good act. "I can have sex anytime I want. Now good conversation, that's something the Capitol certainly has a shortage of."

"What about District Four?" She challenged him. "Is everybody duller than their fishhooks?"

He shrugged. "I don't talk about District Four when I'm here." He was so superior, so lofty. She wanted to claw his gorgeous green eyes out. "This is a world none of them could understand. Better to keep them separate. You'll learn that."

It took her a few months to realize he was actually giving her real advice.

* * *

"Jo-Jo!" Johanna didn't turn her head at first, because no one in their right mind would give _Johanna Mason _a nickname. "Hey Jo! Jo, I'm calling you!"

The voice was irritatingly familiar. She turned to see Finnick waving at her over a sea of people. She'd come to this tightly packed club because both her Tributes were dead and she didn't want to see anybody she knew. She just wanted to find a stranger, fuck him senseless and drink _herself _senseless. She'd been at the bar long enough that some of the Capitol men didn't look quite so revolting. But now Finnick was here and he'd gone and screwed up her plan because he made everyone else look hideous. He had no right, one of his Tributes was still alive, he should have still been mentoring.

But there he was, towering above the crowd because he was tall like that. She watched him whisper into the man's ear beside him and kiss him slowly on the neck. Ugh. Now _that _was revolting.

"You're disgusting." She informed him as he sat down next to her, his eyes bright.

"I've _missed _you Johanna!" He told her in delight. From the far-off look in his eyes, she could tell he was high. "It's been what, three days since your Tributes died?"

"Two."

"You should come back to the Watching Room and hang out with us. It's a regular party. Watching children murder each other is so entertaining."

His sarcasm was slighter than hers – anyone's was, really – and she didn't expect it from him so she actually spit out a laugh. "Is that why you're out and about tonight? Couldn't stomach it?" The words were almost pleading. She hated them once they came out. They sounded weak.

He shook his head, golden curls bouncing. "No, I've got a date."

"I can see that." She gazed critically across the room. "He seems charming." She drawled.

"He's rich. That's all that matters."

"Oh, is that how it is?" Johanna was more disgusted with Finnick than ever. He was just like Cashmere, Gloss and the other pretty Career Victors. Except he was even less selective than them. Which made him worse. "What'd you do with all your Victor winnings, throw them into the ocean?"

Finnick laughed at her. "Of course not, Jo. I'm a fisherman's boy, we're raised to be frugal." She noticed he was breaking his rule about not talking about District Four and wondered just how out of it he was. "I've still got my money. That's not what this is about."

"Then what is it about?" Johanna knew she was taking advantage of his state and most of her didn't really care to hear his answer. But she was a masochist, so she went after the gritty things that scared her and made love to them.

He started to reply, then looked back over across the room. "Sorry Jo, I've got to go!" He told her cheerfully, reaching out to ruffle her hair. She swatted at him. "I'll see you soon though!"

"Don't call me Jo!" She screamed after him, thinking that there was no one in the world she hated more than Finnick Odair that night.

* * *

There was though: there was Finnick Odair the next morning, when he saw her in the Watching Room and panicked. There was the Finnick who pulled her over to the corner when he had the chance and asked her what he'd said to her last night. She could see his mask peeling, the edges fraying and she shoved him away. She didn't want to see his weakness. She didn't have time for that.

"Nothing substantial." She told him, turning up her nose. "Like always."

She hated him for the desperation that had crept into his eyes even as he tried to smile and keep calm. It made her curious, made her want to dig beneath the surface.

* * *

And dig she did. Once Johanna set her mind to something she accomplished it. She dug around, scratched the truth to the surface, bullied it into coming free. _Why does Finnick sleep around? Why does Finnick whore himself out? Why does Finnick throw himself away? _

And eventually the answer came: _Because he's forced to._

It should have made her feel bad. Ashamed, because she judged him. It just made her hate him more. He'd been weaker than her. He'd given in where she stayed strong. What an idiot. What a fucking _idiot_.

Yet he was the one who had people to return to when he went home. He felt the need to keep his two worlds separate because his world was still precious and _full_. Johanna had nothing. She was empty. She found herself counting down the days until she went to the Capitol, until they forced her to go with her heels dug in because she wouldn't go unless they made her. Only no one could force her to do anything. No one could push her, because she was empty and there was nothing to push.

She found herself looking forward to coming to the Capitol and watching children die in the grotesque masquerade of the Hunger Games, just so she wasn't so empty. Just so she could be around people for once, people who were just as broken as she was. People like Finnick.

Only Finnick wasn't broken. Finnick wasn't broken like her because he still had things and people to protect. There was part of him that he kept locked away from the Capitol, whole and healthy.

Johanna hated him.

* * *

She visited him in District Four once, just once. She wanted to see if it was really the magical land where dreams came true that he acted like it was.

It rained the whole fucking time. She tried walking on the beach barefoot and cut her foot on washed up glass from the pollution of District Three that washed up across the bay. There was this pervasive, horrible fishy smell permeating the wood, the brick, the cloth, the air, the skin…when she got on the train she bathed for an hour to scrub it off her.

The worst part was stopping by the Victors' Village to see him. She'd found out where he lived and was going to scare the hell out him. They'd laugh and drink and stay up all night and he'd probably be irritatingly optimistic and happy, but she wouldn't be empty and maybe for once she could fill her insides with happiness rather than bitterness.

She rapped on his door but he didn't answer. The lights were out. He wasn't home. After a few moments of waiting, Johanna scowled and walked down the road. She was going back to District Seven. This whole trip had been stupid, a waste. The rain was coming down harder and her hair was a sopping, frizzy mess. Maybe when she got home she'd chop it all off. She wondered what the Capitol would do if she arrived with a buzz cut. Probably make her wear a wig.

The couple running down the road toward her was managing to stay dry in the most annoying way. The guy had taken off his coat and was draping it like an umbrella over the girl. She kept trying to pull his head down so that he was covered to but their height difference was making it impossible. Finally he scooped her up as she giggled and flailed, before tucking her head into his shoulder.

His coat was still over his head when he reached Johanna. That didn't stop them from recognizing each other.

"Johanna?' Finnick looked just as shocked as she did. The girl in his arms peeked out from his shoulder and Johanna recognized her. She was a Victor. She'd won the year before her. She'd won and gone mad and the world had forgotten her.

Johanna stood there gaping at him and Finnick told her to wait before hurriedly carrying the girl away. She watched him take her into his own house. They were in there for a few minutes before he came back out. At that point, Johanna's feet had carried her back to Finnick's house. It was lovely and well-cared for. It was obviously not the work of a young man in his twenties who spent way too much time at the Capitol.

"Johanna." Finnick was before her again. "What are you doing-"

She slapped him. Hard. It left a red mark. "What am _I _doing?" She demanded. "What are _you _doing, you fucking idiot? You're living here with this girl? You're out of your mind!"

He had that sad, kicked puppy-dog look that Johanna hated more than anything. "I know that." He whispered. "I just couldn't stop myself."

"From what?"

"From loving her."

"Jesus Christ." This is _not _what Johanna was expecting. "You're going to get her killed. You must know that. It doesn't matter that she's a Victor, she's mad, hardly anyone would notice if she disappeared. If Snow finds out-"

"Snow already knows." Finnick had left his jacket upstairs and the rain was now drenching his t-shirt. He was completely unmade: wild hair, sweaty and sunburnt face, calloused hands and dirty clothes. He was still uncannily beautiful. "Hell, Snow knew before _I _knew. He's already using her against me. He won't do anything to her as long as I'm useful to him. She and Mags are all that I have left. They're my family."

Johanna hadn't known that his real family was dead. Hers was too. This should have been something they had in common. It just served as a stark reminder to how different they were. "It's not fair to her. Does she even know what you do?"

"Of course." He looked offended. District Four Finnick actually let his emotions show on his face, the rainwater almost magnifying them. "She's not actually mad, Jo. She's just traumatized. Like all of us."

"I'm not." She said defensively. "I'm exactly the same as I was."

He looked like he pitied her then. She wanted to claw his face off. "You are, you're just too proud to admit it. The Games broke all of us. And they keep breaking us, every year. The only difference between us is that I'm fighting to make sure I have something to live for once they finally let me go."

"They'll never let you go." She sneered at him. "They love you too god damned much."

"They will eventually." His words sounded like a desperate plea. "And when they do, Annie and I are going to get married and start a life together."

She looked at him, standing on the deck of the home he shared with the woman he loved, talking about a future like a normal person. And it astounded her how _ordinary _he was.

"I hate you." She told him.

* * *

Johanna was probably the only reasonably sane person who preferred Capitol Finnick to Normal Finnick. Normal Finnick was so full of love and hope it made her want to throw up. He liked to think he shifted into Capitol mode as soon as he stepped foot onto the cement, but it actually took him a few days to shake off the aura of sincerity he carried with him from District Four. Johanna avoided him until typically the third day he was there, once he was bitter, angry, snarky and fake. Then they could hate the world together.

When the Quarter Quell came and it was time for them to take their part in the revolution – and go back into that fucking arena _again_ – he came to her apartment when they were in the Capitol and they went through her whole liquor cabinet and smashed the bottles against walls just to hear the sound of it. They were furious, rebellious, and ready to fight and Johanna loved every second of it. Finally: something to live for.

They made a good team in Training and strategizing. He was oddly focused and sharp – she finally understood how he'd won his Games at only fourteen – and she brought along the ferocity that they would need. When they finally met again in the Arena, she was beyond elated. After being stuck with Nuts and Volts and Blight (who'd had the good sense to walk into a force field and die before he pissed her off too much) she was thrilled to have good company again. Even if that company came along with the ever-insufferable Katniss Everdeen and her boy-toy. And even as she hated Finnick for dunking her into the water to prevent her from yelling all the things she wanted to at Little Miss Mockingjay, she secretly loved the way he carried her comfortably and held her tightly so she didn't drown.

Then the Jabberjays came and screamed with Annie's voice and when Finnick absolutely fell apart, Johanna was reminded that he was doing all of this so that he could one day get married.

She hated herself.

* * *

Being tortured shouldn't have been awkward. But they just _had _to put her next to Annie's cell. And then they _had _to go ahead and brainwash Peeta so that Annie was the only one she could talk to in order to stay sane.

The mad girl was keeping her sane. Irony.

And it seemed that the poor girl's only lifeline was Finnick so Johanna listened to story after story about District Four Finnick, Normal Finnick, the Finnick everyone else seemed to love. She didn't know that Finnick. She only knew the broken version. And if the rebellion won and he married Annie, that version would be gone forever. Johanna's Finnick would be washed away to sea. If he lost Annie – if she died or retreated further within her shell of a mind – then Johanna's Finnick would probably be here to stay.

"Tell me about the first time you met Finnick." Johanna found herself saying to Annie. She hated District Four Finnick stories. But Annie loved them. They kept her sane.

* * *

The wedding should have been shitty. It was done for a propo, for publicity, to keep the Rebellion's spirits high. It took place in District 13 where everything was dull, subdued and _underground _for fuck's sake. Annie was wearing a dress that Katniss had worn for her stupid Victory Tour. It wasn't even white. It was green. And she was marrying the only person Johanna could ever picture herself tolerating long enough to grow old together.

None of that mattered. The wedding was not shitty. It was beautiful. Annie was beautiful and Finnick was beautiful and Annie and Finnick were even more beautiful together. After they kissed and the net was removed from over them, Finnick searched her eye out and winked at her, grinning like the happiest person on the entire planet. And for the first time ever, Johanna didn't hate him at all. She loved him. She loved him the way that she loved Annie, the way that she loved the happy children running about, the way she loved the fiddler who made everyone dancing get up and dance.

She felt so much love in her heart that she turned to Katniss, who was standing off to the side. There was somebody as broken as she was, maybe more so. But even the Mockingjay couldn't stop the smile that touched her lips and her hands from clapping along to the beat. So she asked, "Are you going to miss the chance to let Snow see you dancing?" and pulled Katniss onto the dance floor. Johanna danced and whirled, loving Katniss, loving the people of Districts 12 and 13, loving Annie, loving Finnick because she finally realized that even happy, whole people could love someone like her.

* * *

She never hated Finnick again, not even when he died at the end of the war and left Annie pregnant and alone. He'd been her best friend and she was going to live a happy and full life because of it.

* * *

A/N: How freaking adorable are Jenna Malone and Sam Claflin? I almost love them as friends as much as Josh and Jenn. Why does the Hunger Games attract such inwardly - and outwardly - beautiful people who form hilarious and beautiful friendships? Maybe it's just because they spend all day around Jennifer Lawrence.

The idea that Johanna sort of loved Finnick in her own twisted and confused way came to me when Johanna told Katniss about Annie (In the film, I think it was actually Peeta in the book). The way she said it so uncomfortably and un-Johanna-like was probably meant to be because it was a taboo topic, but to me it seemed like it revealed a sensitive area for Johanna. Just my personal head-cannon. In my head-cannon, Finnick was also oblivious to it all, mostly because Johanna never admitted it to herself until she let him go.


End file.
